Schreiben: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German

Introduction

Schreiben means “to write”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in German — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for schreiben, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.

Example sentences

Twelve sentences with schreiben, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.

  1. “Ich schreibe einen Brief an Marie.” — “I write a letter to Marie.”
  2. “Du schreibst ein Buch über Berlin.” — “You write a book about Berlin.”
  3. “Ich habe jeden Tag in mein Tagebuch geschrieben.” — “I have written in my diary every day.”
  4. “Er schrieb einen Brief an Marie.” — “He wrote a letter to Marie.”
  5. “Wir werden ein Buch über Berlin schreiben.” — “We will write a book about Berlin.”
  6. “Du hast jeden Tag in mein Tagebuch geschrieben.” — “You have written in my diary every day.”
  7. “Ich schriebe einen Brief an Marie.” — “I would write a letter to Marie.”
  8. “Er schreibe ein Buch über Berlin.” — “He writes a book about Berlin.”
  9. “Wir hatten jeden Tag in mein Tagebuch geschrieben.” — “We had written in my diary every day.”
  10. “Er wird einen Brief an Marie schreiben.” — “He will write a letter to Marie.”
  11. “Sie schreiben ein Buch über Berlin.” — “They write a book about Berlin.”
  12. “Schreib jeden Tag in mein Tagebuch!” — “Write in my diary every day!”

A short dialogue

Lena and Jonas are talking about a letter to Marie. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how schreiben changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of schreiben below is taken from the verified tables.

Lena: “Schreibst du einen Brief an Marie?” — “You write a letter to Marie?” Jonas: “Ich schreibe einen Brief an Marie.” — “I write a letter to Marie.” Lena: Und morgen? Jonas: “Ich werde ein Buch über Berlin schreiben.” — “I will write a book about Berlin.” Lena: Und gestern? Jonas: “Ich habe jeden Tag in mein Tagebuch geschrieben.” — “I have written in my diary every day.” Lena: Und eines Tages? Jonas: “Ich schriebe einen Brief an Marie.” — “I would write a letter to Marie.”

Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the Perfekt for yesterday, and Konjunktiv II for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.

Schreiben in different tenses

The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of schreiben that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.

The present: habits and facts

In the present, schreiben describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is schreibe: “Ich schreibe einen Brief an Marie.” — “I write a letter to Marie.”

The preterite: the past as a finished event

In the preterite, schreiben describes one finished action in the past, the way a story tells it. The er form is schrieb: “Er schrieb ein Buch über Berlin.” — “He wrote a book about Berlin.”

The Perfekt: finished actions

In the Perfekt, schreiben reports one finished action in everyday speech, built with haben plus the participle geschrieben. The ich form is habe geschrieben: “Ich habe jeden Tag in mein Tagebuch geschrieben.” — “I have written in my diary every day.”

The future: what will happen

In the future, schreiben talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden schreiben: “Wir werden einen Brief an Marie schreiben.” — “We will write a letter to Marie.”

Konjunktiv II: what would happen

In Konjunktiv II, schreiben talks about what would happen. Konjunktiv II doubles as the German conditional — there is no separate conditional tense. The du form is schriebest: “Du schriebest ein Buch über Berlin.” — “You would write a book about Berlin.”

Konjunktiv I: reported speech

In reported speech, schreiben appears in Konjunktiv I, reporting what someone else said. The er form is schreibe: “Er schreibe jeden Tag in mein Tagebuch.” — “He writes in my diary every day.” Read it as a quotation — someone said this, and the sentence reports it.

Common mistakes

Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Ich schreiben einen Brief an Marie.”

✓ Right: “Ich schreibe einen Brief an Marie.”

The infinitive schreiben never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form schreibe.

Using the wrong person’s form

✗ Wrong: “Du schreibe einen Brief an Marie.”

✓ Right: “Du schreibst einen Brief an Marie.”

schreibe is the ich form. With du you need schreibst. Check the subject before you choose the form.

Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Ich schreibe einen Brief an Marie gestern.”

✓ Right: “Ich habe einen Brief an Marie geschrieben.”

The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe geschrieben, not the present.

Using the indicative in reported speech

✗ Wrong: “Ich schreibe einen Brief an Marie.” (quoted as reported speech)

✓ Right: “Ich schreibe einen Brief an Marie.” (quoted as reported speech)

In reported speech German uses Konjunktiv I: schreibe, not the indicative schreibe.

Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt

✗ Wrong: “Ich geschrieben einen Brief an Marie.”

✓ Right: “Ich habe einen Brief an Marie geschrieben.”

The Perfekt of schreiben needs the auxiliary haben plus the participle geschrieben: the full ich form is habe geschrieben.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on schreiben. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.

  1. What is the ich form of schreiben in the Present (Präsens)?

    • A) schreibst
    • B) schreibt
    • C) schreiben
    • D) schreibe

  2. What is the du form of schreiben in the Present (Präsens)?

    • A) schreiben
    • B) schreibst
    • C) schreibe
    • D) schreibt

  3. What is the er/sie/es form of schreiben in the Perfect (Perfekt)?

    • A) hat geschrieben
    • B) habe geschrieben
    • C) hast geschrieben
    • D) haben geschrieben

  4. What is the wir form of schreiben in the Preterite (Präteritum)?

    • A) schriebt
    • B) schrieben
    • C) schrieb
    • D) schriebst

  5. What is the du form of schreiben in the Future (Futur I)?

    • A) wirst schreiben
    • B) werde schreiben
    • C) wird schreiben
    • D) werden schreiben

  6. What is the ich form of schreiben in the Konjunktiv II (conditional)?

    • A) schriebest
    • B) schrieben
    • C) schriebet
    • D) schriebe

  7. What is the er/sie/es form of schreiben in the Konjunktiv I?

    • A) schreibest
    • B) schreiben
    • C) schreibet
    • D) schreibe

  8. What is the ich form of schreiben in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?

    • A) hattest geschrieben
    • B) hatten geschrieben
    • C) hattet geschrieben
    • D) hatte geschrieben

  9. What is the past participle of schreiben?

    • A) geliebt
    • B) geschrieben
    • C) verstanden
    • D) gekannt

  10. What does schreiben mean in English?

  • A) to know
  • B) to love
  • C) to write
  • D) to understand

Answer key

  1. D) schreibe — the ich form of schreiben in the Present (Präsens) is schreibe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. B) schreibst — the du form of schreiben in the Present (Präsens) is schreibst. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. A) hat geschrieben — the er/sie/es form of schreiben in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat geschrieben. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. B) schrieben — the wir form of schreiben in the Preterite (Präteritum) is schrieben. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. A) wirst schreiben — the du form of schreiben in the Future (Futur I) is wirst schreiben. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. D) schriebe — the ich form of schreiben in the Konjunktiv II (conditional) is schriebe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) schreibe — the er/sie/es form of schreiben in the Konjunktiv I is schreibe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. D) hatte geschrieben — the ich form of schreiben in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatte geschrieben. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) geschrieben — the past participle of schreiben is geschrieben. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
  10. C) to write — schreiben means “to write” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.

Frequently asked questions

What does schreiben mean in English?

schreiben means “to write”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.

Is schreiben regular or irregular?

schreiben is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The present participle is schreibend and the past participle is geschrieben.

How do I practise schreiben every day?

Say one sentence with schreiben in the present, one in the Perfekt and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Ich schreibe einen Brief an Marie.”, “Ich habe einen Brief an Marie geschrieben.” and “Ich werde einen Brief an Marie schreiben.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for schreiben, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

Related pages